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Physical Review A

Linewidth oscillations in a nanometer-size double-slit interference experiment with single electrons

R O Barrachina, F. Frémont, K. Fossez, D. Gruyer, Victor Hélaine, A. Lepailleur, A. Leredde, Sylvain Maclot, Guillaume Scamps, J.-Y. Chesnel

Published Jun 15, 2010• 9 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In this article we provide experimental evidence of an interference phenomenon that, to the best of our knowledge, has so far not been observed with either matter or light. In a nanometer-sized version of Feynman's famous two-slit ``thought'' experiment with single electrons, we managed to observe that the width of a quasi-monochromatic line oscillates with the detection angle. Furthermore, we find that it occurs in counterphase with the line intensity. We discuss the underlying mechanism that produces this unexpected result.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.81.060702

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In this article we provide experimental evidence of an interference phenomenon that, to the best of our knowledge, has so far not been observed with either matter or light. In a nanometer-sized version of Feynman's famous two-slit ``thought'' experiment with single electrons, we managed to observe that the width of a quasi-monochromatic line oscillates with the detection angle. Furthermore, we find that it occurs in counterphase with the line intensity. We discuss the underlying mechanism that produces this unexpected result.
A new interference phenomenon is reported, which has so far not been observed with either matter or light. In a nanometer-sized version of Feynman's famous two-slit “thought” experiment with single electrons, the width of a quasi-monochromatic line has been found to oscillate with the detection angle. Since this experiment resembles the original double-slit experiment by Young with light (1807), photon interferences were investigated in order to determine the wavelength distribution as a function of the position in the interference field. In addition to the well-known oscillating dependence of the intensity with a succession of dark and bright fringes, a periodic dependence with respect to the detection position has also been observed for the width of the wavelength distribution, revealing a larger analogy between electron and photon interferences.
Interferences caused by a single electron impacting on an independent double-center scatterer, which plays the role of an atomic-size double-slit system, are experimentally evidenced for the first time. The electron originates from the autoionization of doubly excited 2 l n l ' (n ⩾ 2) configurations of He following a double charge exchange process by He 2+ ions impinging on H 2 molecules. Well-defined oscillations are visible in the angular distribution of the electrons emitted towards the receding H + protons. The presence of these oscillations demonstrates that a single electron interferes with itself. This is analogous to the famous "thought" experiment imagined and discussed by Feynman in 1963, in which the quantum nature of the electron was illustrated by making it traverse an atomic-size double-slit arrangement.
In a "thought experiment," now a classic in physics pedagogy, Feynman visualizes Young's double-slit interference experiment with electrons in magnetic field. He shows that the addition of an Aharonov-Bohm phase is equivalent to shifting the zero-field wave interference pattern by an angle expected from the Lorentz force calculation for classical particles. We have performed this experiment with one slit, instead of two, where ballistic electrons within two-dimensional electron gas diffract through a small orifice formed by a quantum point contact (QPC). As the QPC width is comparable to the electron wavelength, the observed intensity profile is further modulated by the transverse waveguide modes present at the injector QPC. Our experiments open the way to realizing diffraction-based ideas in mesoscopic physics.
Evidence is given for Young-type interferences caused by a single electron acting on a given double-center scatterer analogous to an atomic-size double-slit system. The electron is provided by autoionization of a doubly excited He atom following the capture of the electrons of H2 by a He2+ incoming ion. The autoionizing projectile is a single-electron source, independent of the interferometer provided by the two H+ centers of the fully ionized H2 molecule. This experiment resembles the famous thought experiment imagined by Feynman in 1963, in which the quantum nature of the electron is illustrated from a Young-like double-slit experiment. Well-defined oscillations are visible in the angular distribution of the scattered electrons, showing that each electron interferes with itself.
Double-slit diffraction is a corner stone of quantum mechanics. It illustrates key features of quantum mechanics: interference and the particle-wave duality of matter. In 1965, Richard Feynman presented a thought experiment to show these features. Here we demonstrate the full realization of his famous thought experiment. By placing a movable mask in front of a double-slit to control the transmission through the individual slits, probability distributions for single- and double-slit arrangements were observed. Also, by recording single electron detection events diffracting through a double-slit, a diffraction pattern was built up from individual events.
The two-slit interference experiment is usually adopted to discuss the superposition principle applied to radiation and to show the peculiar wave behaviour of material particles. Diffraction and interference of electrons have been demonstrated using, as interferometry devices, a hole, a slit, double hole, two-slits, an electrostatic biprism etc. A number of books, short movies and lectures on the web try to popularize the mysterious behaviour of electrons on the basis of Feynman thought experiment which consists of a Young two-hole interferometer equipped with a detector to reveal single electrons. A short review is reported regarding, i) the pioneering attempts carried out to demonstrate that interference patterns could be obtained with single electrons through an interferometer and, ii) recent experiments, which can be considered as the realization of the thought electron interference experiments adopted by Einstein-Bohr and subsequently by Feynman to discuss key features of quantum physics.